OTTAWA —
A member of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table warns Ottawa will consistently see more days with triple-digit increases in COVID-19 cases in the next week or so as COVID-19 transmission continues to rise in the community.
And senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Dr. Doug Manuel suggests the Red-Control zone restrictions are “not going to hold” the transmission rates in Ottawa.
Ottawa moved into the Red-Control level of Ontario’s COVID-19 reopening framework on Friday, following a spike in COVID-19 cases.
Ottawa’s COVID-19 incidence rate increased from 33.8 cases per 100,000 on Feb. 28 to 50 cases on March 19.
“I think we’re at an interesting period. In Ottawa, we’re doing a bit better than other places that have been increasing more quickly,” said Dr. Manuel during an interview on CTV News at Six with anchor Stefan Keyes.
“In Ottawa, in the short-term we’re looking at increasing cases; we’ll probably be in the triple digits more consistently in a week or so, deaths are predicted to go down and hospitalizations over the short-term are going to stay flat.”
Ottawa Public Health reported 107 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and 86 new cases on Sunday. The 107 new cases of novel coronavirus in Ottawa on Saturday was the highest one-day increase since Jan. 21.
“So, the question after that is what’s going to influence it?” said Dr. Manuel about the COVID-19 transmission in the community.
“We’ve got the two big factors: the variants of concern is going to increase cases for a while and then we have the vaccine, which is going to help the hospitalizations and deaths.”
Ottawa is in the Red-Control zone after spending one month in the Orange-Restrict level.
“Currently, the cases would likely go up with the level of restrictions that we’ve got,” said Dr. Manuel, when asked if Ottawa needs to go into lockdown to control the spread of virus.
Manuel notes there is no set criteria for the province to move a region into the Gray-Lockdown level, which looks at increasing weekly case incidence and/or test positivity and outbreaks among vulnerable populations.
“We’re definitely not going back to orange for a while.”
LOCKDOWN NEEDED IN OTTAWA?
Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA Sunday morning with host Andrew Pinsent, Dr. Manuel said the likelihood of Ottawa moving into Gray-Lockdown is “pretty high.”
“It’s going up. I think the question is now moving into red zone, are we going to flatten that out?” said Dr. Manuel about COVID-19 transmission in Ottawa.
Dr. Manuel says while Ottawa’s COVID-19 rates have been increasing slower than other areas of Ontario, transmission could rise due to the variants of concern and the level of restrictions.
“I’m concerned that red is not going to hold us, especially with the new variants and that we’re going to continue to increase,” said Dr. Manuel.
“When we get into these sorts of triple digits (daily case increases), public health has a hard time keeping up with all the cases, so there starts to be a lag time in their contact tracing.”
Dr. Manuel says looking at the recent changes to restaurant capacity in the Red-Control zone, he is concerned the measures won’t “hold” the COVID-19 rates in Ottawa. Ontario’s new restrictions for bars and restaurants in the Red-Control zone is 50 per cent capacity of an establishment, up to a maximum of 50 people.
Pinsent asked if he anticipates a move into lockdown.
“I would say the likelihood is pretty high, or it’s definitely on my radar. When? I think we’re going to see how much the red is going to hold us, or we’re just going to blow right through it,” said Manuel.
“I don’t think it’s going to hold us. I think we’re probably going to continue on the same rate, if not higher. The math would say that we’re going to accelerate with the variants and just having more people and losing our ability to control.”
Dr. Manuel notes the variants of concern create a “different ballgame” with COVID-19 than in the fall.
Approximately 50 per cent of all new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa involve a variant of concern.
Dr. Manuel says there are two factors pushing back against COVID-19 and the variants of concern this spring; more people gathering outside in the warm weather and we’re getting vaccinated with the COVID-19 doses.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
